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India on Thursday said it has rejected the demand of the four European nations EFTA bloc for inclusion of a 'data exclusivity' provision in proposed free trade agreements, stating that it always protects the interests of the domestic generic drugs industry. Commerce Secretary Sunil Barthwal said there is no Free Trade Agreement (FTA) in which India will go against the generic drug industry. The European Free Trade Association (EFTA) members are Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, and Switzerland. The bloc is negotiating a trade agreement with India. «They want that there should be data exclusivity, we rejected their demand. We are with our generic industry.

J.P. Morgan Asset Management has quit a global coalition of investors that aims to ensure the world’s largest corporate greenhouse gas emitters take necessary action on climate change.

Stocks in Europe rose Thursday, following US shares higher as robust earnings helped overcome worries about persistent inflation.

Japan’s economy unexpectedly slipped into recession after shrinking for a second quarter due to anemic domestic demand, prompting some central bank watchers to push back bets on when the nation’s negative interest rate policy will end.

TMC MP Mimi Chakraborty on Thursday announced her resignation from the post. She met party chief Mamata Banerjee and expressed her desire to quit as a parliamentarian, asserting that «politics is not my cup of tea». Chakraborty, a first-time MP from Jadavpur, went to the state assembly in the afternoon to meet Banerjee, also the chief minister. «Today, I met our party supremo. I had submitted my resignation to her on February 13. I have understood in all these years that politics is not my cup of tea,» she told reporters.

Sovereign Gold Bond Scheme 2023–24 Series IV schedule for the fiscal year 2023-2024. The SGB Series 2023-24 Series IV opened for subscription on February 12, 2024. The current SGB tranche will close for subscriptions on February 16, 2024.

₹763.90 apiece on the BSE after the Supreme Court (SC) ordered the state-owned lender to disclose details of electoral bonds encashed by the political parties, including date and denomination. Earlier today, the top court declared the controversial electoral bonds scheme as 'unconstitutional' and in violation of the right to information and Article 19(1)(a). The ruling stated that allowing corporates to make unlimited contributions is arbitrary and against the fundamental rights of citizens.

PTI. He further expressed strong condemnation for what he described as a deviation from the cultural and traditional values expected from students of the college. According to an NDTV report, the college authorities explained that the idol adhered to traditional sculpture forms observed in Hindu temples and had no intention to offend religious sentiments.

Longtime money-losing ride-share companies Uber Technologies and Lyft have surprised naysayers by doing what many thought was impossible: racing toward steady profits. 2023 marked Uber’s first year of being profitable as a public company. Uber put more gas in its tank Wednesday after it outlined better long-term financial goals during its investor day.

ANI reported. She reportedly handed over her resignation to TMC chief and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee. Chakraborty was an MP from Jadavpur constituency in West Bengal.

Sensex is trading at around 5 percent valuation premium based on intrinsic value. However, mid-cap stocks are commanding a reasonable valuation premium over their historical averages while there is a froth in the small and micro-cap segment, reports Client Associates (CA) Annual Equity Assessment 2024. While large-cap private banks, NBFCs, and IT are looking relatively attractive in terms of valuations, Industrial, PSUs, consumer, and capital goods are expensive as compared to their medium-term averages, the report further adds.

(Reuters) -Cenovus Energy fell short of analysts' estimates for quarterly profit on Thursday, due to lower refined product pricing in the U.S. and price realizations in the oil sands segment.

By Simon Jessop

(Reuters) — U.S. stock index futures were subdued on Thursday with a slew of economic data reports on the radar, while investors looked ahead to commentary from central bank officials on the timing of the Federal Reserve's first interest-rate cut.

Supreme Court on Thursday banned electoral bonds that had become a major source of funding for political parties in India. The scheme, termed 'unconstitutional' now by the apex court contributed over Rs 16,000 crore to political parties' coffers since 2018. Among the beneficiaries, the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) stands out, receiving a lion's share of around 55%, or approximately Rs 6,565 crore, PTI reported citing data from the Election Commission and the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR). These bonds, which allow for anonymous donations, have been a key component of political funding, with some regional parties relying heavily on them for financial support.

BJP leader Suvendu Adhikari, along with four legislators, were detained by the police at Rampur village en route to Sandeshkhali. The policeman allegedly assaulted him as staged a sit-in protest in Rampur along with the legislators. "… A police officer named Amin Ul kicked me with his boot. They did that to the LoP. I will protest for a while, and if they do not rethink their decision, I will move the HC… A mere DSP kicked a four-time MLA, ex-minister, LoP, two-time MP, and three-time councillor. What kind of behaviour is this," he said as he along with six Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader were suspended from the West Bengal Legislative Assembly early this week for staging protests and demanding a statement by Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on the Sandeshkhali issue in the House.

Nithin Kamath, CEO of Zerodha, an Indian brokerage firm, raised a red flag about phishing websites designed to deceive users into downloading fake trading apps. “After the Chinese loan apps scam, the latest scam from actors in China and other Asian countries is phishing websites. Fraudsters are creating hundreds of websites and trading apps that look similar to the websites of Indian brokers," Kamath said in a post on social media platform X.

UCO Bank lead the pack, with returns of 4.8% and 4.3%, respectively, as of 2:30 p.m. Canara Bank shares surged to a new record high of ₹594.7 each, marking a nearly 5% gain. The stock has been on a strong upward trend since the bank's Q3 result announcement on January 24.

Kerala-based startups witness 40% surge in seed-stage funding in 2023: Report Tamil Nadu startups also saw a crunch in funding, with an 85% plunge last year. Tamil Nadu-based tech startups secured a total funding of $255 million in 2023 as against $1.7 billion raised in 2022. Karnataka's tech startups attracted late-stage investments worth $2.3 billion in 2023, a 74% decline compared with $8.9 billion in 2022.

Mutual fund managers continued their robust equity purchases for the fifth consecutive month in December 2023, pushing their total net equity investments over ₹1.7 trillion in the calendar year. Fund managers bought equities worth ₹230 billion (bn) until 28 December compared to ₹180 bn in November 2023, data from the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) showed. With inflows into equity MF schemes remaining positive for the past 34 months, domestic MFs have emerged as a pillar of support for the stock market.